An Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center

The Paul Schrader Papers contain
screenplays, film production files, and personal papers belonging to screenwriter
and director Paul Schrader.

Language:

English with some
printed material in Afrikaans, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Access:

Open for research; some materials redacted or restricted.
The materials contain documents from which personal information has been redacted
or
restricted to protect an individual's privacy. Examples are Social Security and
account numbers and personal records. The originals were removed and have been
replaced with redacted photocopies, which have an identifying statement at the
top.
In addition, an address book has been removed and is closed to researchers.

Named after his mother's two favorite biblical figures, screenwriter and director
Paul Joseph Schrader was born on July 22, 1946, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to
Charles and Joan Schrader. Paul and his older brother, Leonard, were raised in
a
strict Dutch Calvinist home where faith and church were an essential aspect of
family and community life. Because of the tenets of the Calvinist Christian Reform
Church, Schrader famously did not see his first film, The
Absent-Minded Professor, until he was seventeen years old. Unimpressed,
he did not appreciate the impact of film until he saw Wild in
the Country starring Elvis Presley and Tuesday Weld.

In 1963, Schrader attended summer school at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham,
Virginia. Exposure to non-Calvinist life outside of Grand Rapids in the segregated
South had a lasting effect on him. Intending to become a minister, Schrader entered
Calvin College in 1964. The political and social upheaval of the 1960s found him
increasingly politically active and rebellious. He began a film club, which screened
artistic and foreign films and invited the more liberal faculty members to discuss
them. He began reviewing films and wrote film criticism for the college newspaper,
the Calvin College Chimes, and later became assistant
editor. Both his film club and his management of the newspaper often put Schrader
in
conflict with the university administration. He was eventually ousted from the
Chimes by administrators; undeterred, Schrader
and some friends began a new publication, The
Spectacle.

In summer 1967, Schrader enrolled in film courses at Columbia University. While in
New York he had a fortuitous meeting with the prominent film critic Pauline Kael,
who urged Schrader to abandon his plan of becoming a minister and study film.
In
1968, he graduated from Calvin College with a bachelor of arts degree in English
and
the next year married Jeannine Oppewall, a Calvin student and editor of the Calvin College Chimes, who would go on to a successful
career in film as an art director and production designer.

After graduation, Schrader asked Kael for a recommendation to the University of
California Los Angeles Film School, where he received an MA in 1970. He was among
the first fellows at the burgeoning American Film Institute's (AFI) Center for
Advanced Film Studies. While there he published his master's thesis as Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer
(1972). As a film critic, Schrader edited and contributed essays and reviews to
Cinema, Los Angeles Free
Press, and similar publications. While Kael was working as a script
reader at Columbia Pictures, she contacted Schrader about a Seattle newspaper
film
critic position, which he turned down in order to pursue his interest in film-making
and to continue writing an in-progress screenplay called The Pipeliner. As a result,
Kael and Schrader's relationship cooled for many years.

Schrader's time in Los Angeles in the first half of the 1970s marked a significant
turning point in his life. The Los Angeles Free Press
fired him for his negative review of Easy Rider, he
left his fellowship at the AFI in protest over an administrative dispute, he was
unable to finance his screenplay The Pipeliner, he was in financial debt, and
his
marriage was breaking up. It was in this period of professional and emotional
turmoil that Schrader wrote his screenplay for Taxi
Driver (1976) in less than two weeks. The screenplay was eventually sent to
Brian De Palma, producers Julia and Michael Phillips, then to Martin Scorsese
and
Robert De Niro, but it would take two years to begin production. Though at the
time
of its release Taxi Driver received mixed critical
acclaim, it won the Palme D'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. More importantly,
Taxi Driver launched Schrader's career as an
emerging member of the second wave of "New
Hollywood" filmmakers, such as Scorsese, Spielberg, Lucas, and De Palma, who
studied at film school before making some of the late 20th century's most
groundbreaking films.

After completing the script for Taxi Driver, Schrader
and his brother, Leonard, co-authored a Japanese gangster film, The Yakuza. The script was sold for the extraordinarily
high sum of $325,000. Sydney Pollack directed the film, which was released in
1975.
The success of these two projects led to Brian De Palma directing Schrader's Obsession (1976). Schrader wrote scripts prolifically
during the mid to late 1970s, including many produced and unproduced films like
Rolling Thunder (1977), Québecois!,
Old Boyfriends (1978), Havana Colony (later made
into Havana), Gershwin, Round Eyes, Covert People,
and an early uncredited writing role for the film that would become Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In 1978, he directed
his first film, Blue Collar, based on a screenplay he
co-wrote with his brother. Later the same year, Schrader wrote and directed Hardcore (1978), the first of two films heavily
influenced by his parents (the other was Light of Day
in 1987). While he was editing Hardcore, Robert De
Niro and Martin Scorsese asked himr to rework Mardik Martin's original script
for
Raging Bull (1980). Though the film's final
script changed significantly from Schrader's version, Schrader recognized the
need
to reorder the scenes and combine Joey La Motta and Pete Savage into one character.
He would again partner with Scorsese and wrote screenplays for his films The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing Out the Dead (1999).

Schrader's catalog of film projects demonstrates his fascination with the grimmer
aspects of human behavior. He is drawn to the study of flawed, socially isolated,
and often self-destructive characters. He has collaborated with some of the
twentieth century's most notable directors, producers, and actors on films such
as
Old Boyfriends (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980),
Raging Bull (1980), Cat
People (1982), Mishima: A Life in Four
Chapters (1985), The Mosquito Coast (1986),
Light of Day (1987), Patty
Hearst (1988), The Last Temptation of
Christ (1988), The Comfort of Strangers
(1990), Light Sleeper (1992), Witch Hunt (1994), Untitled: New Blue
(1995), City Hall (1996), Touch (1997), Affliction (1997), Forever Mine (1999), Bringing Out
the Dead (1999), Auto Focus (2002),
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005), The Walker (2007), Adam
Resurrected (2008), and The Jesuit
(expected 2012).

In 1983, Schrader married actress Mary Beth Hurt, who frequently appears in his
films, and they have two children, Molly and Sam.

In addition to material found within the Paul Schrader Papers, the following sources
were used:

The Paul Schrader Papers contain screenplays, film production files, and personal
papers documenting Schrader's life and film career from 1943 to 2011. Included
are
early childhood materials, film reviews and essays published in his college
newspapers, materials reflecting his emergence as one of "The New Hollywood's" most successful filmmakers, and records of his film
projects. The papers are arranged in six series: I. Films and Television, circa
1960s-2010, undated; II. Plays, 1981-2011; III. Journalism and Other Writings,
1968-2007, undated; IV. Personal and Career-Related, 1943-2011, undated; V.
Correspondence, 1968-2008, undated; VI. Works by Others, 1966-2007, undated.

The bulk of the material is located in the first series, Films and Television, and
contains screenplays and production files for twenty-nine films Schrader wrote
and/or directed, as well as for numerous unproduced films, television series,
and
other projects. The production files typically include screenplay drafts, film
outlines and treatments, notes, Writers Guild of America (WGA) registration, and
correspondence. In many cases, these files are extensive and may also include
research material, casting files, deal contracts, daily production logs, cast
and
crew lists, film schedules, audience surveys, budgets and invoices, legal and
arbitration documents, behind-the-scenes and film stills, publicity packets,
clippings and reviews, film festival screenings, novelizations, sound recordings,
moving images, and digital media.

Series II. Plays includes various script drafts, research files, correspondence,
legal documents, and clippings for three theatrical projects initiated by Schrader:
Sabina (unproduced), Berlinale, and The Cleopatra Club.

Schrader began his film career as a critic while attending University of California
at Los Angeles film school. Series III. Journalism and Other Writings contains
many
of his early film essays and reviews, issues of Los Angeles
Free Press and Cinema that Schrader
edited and contributed to, as well as later writings published in Film Comment, the New
Yorker, and similar publications. Schrader's original master's thesis, which
he revised and published as Transcendental Style in Film:
Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer (1972), is also included in this material.

Series IV. Personal and Career is the second largest series in the collection and
contains a variety of material spanning Schrader's life. Beginning with his baby
book, Schrader's early childhood and schooling, time at university, and film career
are well documented. Also included are family photographs, writings belonging
to his
brother, Leonard, and extensive personal publicity files.

Though correspondence is located throughout Schrader's papers, Series V.
Correspondence contains incoming and outgoing letters he filed as a group. Many
of
these are originals or copies he sent and received from various family, friends,
professional associates, actors, directors, and producers, such as long-time
collaborator Martin Scorsese. A complete index of all correspondent names in this
collection is included at the end of the finding aid.

The final series, VI. Works by Others, contains scripts and writings received,
reviewed, or considered by Schrader, including a 1966 film treatment for Jerusalem,
Jerusalem! by Martin Scorsese.

The Robert De Niro, Russell Banks, Tom Stoppard, and David Mamet holdings at the
Ransom Center contain additional Schrader-related material.

Artifacts, including two commemorative plates celebrating the completion of Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist and Adam Resurrected, a film clapper used for the film
Touch, and school and childhood memorabilia, were
transferred to the Ransom Center's Personal Effects Collection. A costume worn
by
Willem Defoe in the film Light Sleeper was
transferred to the Costumes Collection.

Audio, if present for a film, may include published soundtracks and unpublished demo
tapes, musical scores, and promotional cassette tapes. Published soundtracks and
albums were transferred to the Ransom Center Library. Unpublished audio was
transferred to the Ransom Center Sound Collection. Of particular interest are
demo
tapes by Bruce Springsteen for Light of Day, David
Bowie for Cat People, and Bob Dylan for Light Sleeper.

Bound volumes related to film theory, film criticism, and filmmaking; books
containing biographical information or features about Schrader; and critical
analyses and novelizations of Schrader's films were transferred to the Ransom
Center
Library. Many of these books are inscribed to Schrader; those inscribed to him
from
his early mentor, Pauline Kael, have particular significance. Novels he used heavily
for screenplay adaptations have been kept with the manuscript material. Some of
the
books originally contained loose items which have been removed and placed into
folder 102.11.

Also transferred to the Ransom Center Library are over fifty bound volumes and
programs for numerous international film festivals in which Schrader was involved.
Many of these festivals held screenings, tributes, or retrospectives of his films;
in some instances he served as a member of the film jury.

Digital media, including Zip disks, CDs, DVDs, and 3.5-inch disks, have been
transferred to the Ransom Center's Electronic Records Collection. Digital audio
and
moving image materials have been transferred to the Ransom Center Film and Sound
Collections.

A variety of moving image material is present in the collection, including commercial
versions of Schrader's films in a variety of formats, including film, VHS tape,
beta
tape, DVD, and laserdisc. Published films have been transferred to the Ransom
Center
Library. In addition there is a large number of diverse, unpublished films,
including versions in various stages of the filming process and daily takes.
Materials related to certain films include recorded interviews and other televised
promotional events; research materials; and copies of published movies, programs,
and documentaries recorded from television or some other source. These have also
been transferred to the Film Collection.